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Phoenix Rising
The standoff between the telepaths, the Alliance, and the Psi Corps ends in blood and tragedy. Garibaldi confronts his nemesis. Cast Regular *Bruce Boxleitner as President John Sheridan *Jerry Doyle as Michael Garibaldi *Mira Furlan as Ambassador Delenn *Richard Biggs as Dr. Stephen Franklin *Bill Mumy as Lennier *Tracy Scoggins as Captain Elizabeth Lochley *Stephen Furst as '''Vir Cotto *Jeff Conaway as Security Chief Zack Allan *Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander *Peter Jurasik as Ambassador Londo Mollari *Andreas Katsulas as Ambassador G'Kar Special Guest Star *Walter Koenig as Bester Guest Starring *Robin Atkin Downes as Byron *Jack Hannibal as Peter *Victor Love as Telepath *Leigh J. McCloskey as Thomas Uncredited * Christina Gavin as Sarah * Unknown as William Cast Notes * Regular characters who appear in this episode are John Sheridan, Michael Garibaldi, Stephen Franklin, Zack Allan, Lyta Alexander and Elizabeth Lochley. * Last appearance of Byron, played by Robin Atkin Downes. Summary The telepath conflict escalates with the ones outside of Brown Sector taking hostages in Medlab. Garibaldi confronts Bester and threatens to kill him unless he confesses to telepathically reprogramming him to betray Sheridan and Edgars. Bester refuses and explains that he has placed a mental block prohibiting Garibaldi from actually harming him. Byron sneaks out of Brown sector and ends the hostage situation in Medlab. He offers to surrender, along with all the telepaths who engaged in violence, provided that the rest be allowed safe passage off the station. Sheridan agrees, but Bester refuses to accept the situation and bursts in as they are surrendering, provoking a confrontation which ends with Byron and those who took up arms committing suicide. Lyta arranges for the remaining telepaths to leave the station safely and go underground. Garibaldi takes up drinking again. Introduction More Psi Corps bloodhound units arrive in force on Babylon 5 and are briefed by Alfred Bester. They are now allowed to go after the rogue telepath colony led by Byron Gordon. The half that are armed and moving about the station are the main concern. Bester, repeating the Psi Corps mantra, "the Corps is mother, the Corps is father," insists there should be as few casualties as possible. Elizabeth Lochley enters toward the end and, when everyone is dismissed, notes Bester is enjoying the drama of the situation. Bester reminds her he is helping her, and that every race has the same situation. They walk toward the lift, only to find it opens to a killed Psi Cop under the phrase "Free Byron" on the wall. Act I John Sheridan waits for Lochley, who is trying to get communications with Gordon. He gets through, and makes another plea for Sheridan to remove the Psi Cops, but Sheridan cannot. Bester arrives and interrupts, noting that Gordon never keeps his word. Bester frames his situation and insists the situation is over, but Gordon cuts off communication. Sheridan objects to Bester's interruption, but he gives him an update and claims the situation will be over the next day and leaves. After he goes, Sheridan asks about Michael Garibaldi, who has been silent (and therefore worrying). Bester finds Garibaldi, PPG in hand, in his quarters. In his continuing calm demeanor, Bester greets him and starts to follow his instruction to record a confession, but stops short of pressing the button. Garibaldi promises he will kill him, but Bester refuses. Garibaldi, however, is unable to do it, apparently something Bester did to him earlier to prevent his brain from pulling the trigger – an "Asimov." Bester sits down calmly and explains it all to him, to his extreme disappointment. Act II Gordon confides in Lyta Alexander, still blaming himself for the situation. Alexander presses him on Bester's comment to him earlier, as if he knew Gordon. Gordon says she does not want to know, but she insists. He then admits he was a Psi Cop, and Bester's protege. He recounts one operation, however, that changed his mind: Bester forced him to destroy a transport that had willingly given up rogue telepaths, just to send a message. He hated doing this and tried to file a report later, but no one cared, so he left to Corps. Meanwhile, the firefight goes badly for the telepaths. Thomas decides to fall back to a new position – Medlab. They arrive just as Garibaldi is talking to Stephen Franklin about neural blocks. They quickly overwhelm Garibaldi and the medical staff. Thomas is happy to have valuable hostages, and promises to kill Garibaldi first, then Franklin. Act III Thomas contacts Sheridan and makes his demands. The other telepaths saw it. Gordon is now determined to get to Thomas before he acts. Inside MedLab, Peter is asked to guard the hallway with his telekinesis. Zack Allan leads a team and, indeed, a barrage of tools and cases forces them to fall back. Sheridan, frustrated, blames Bester for cutting off communications, but he insists they cannot deal with them. Bester notes he still has jurisdiction, so he leaves to deal with it his way. Lochley confirms what he said after he leaves, and notes the option of giving in to the demands, which Sheridan does not like, either. Alexander probes each crawlspace for an opening, and finds it. They head out. In MedLab, Garibaldi tries to reason with them without success. Sheridan then sends his message: they will not negotiate. Just as Thomas raises his PPG to kill Garibaldi, Gordon arrives and shoots Thomas instead. He cannot believe he had to do it. Act IV Sheridan is noting Garibaldi's surprising longevity on B5 – longer than anyone in the command structure. He would blame himself if he was the one who ended it. Lochley notes it was the right decision, and just then a message comes in – Gordon promises to release the hostages and turn themselves in, but only if he can talk to all of them in Downbelow first without interference from the Psi Corps. Lochley and Sheridan agree. Later, Bester arrives, furious at the new order. Lochley reveals that they got jurisdiction from Earthgov since their people got hurt, so he will have to go through official channels again. Allan then arrives with the identicards and confessions of those who caused the violence. This meets Sheridan's satisfaction. Bester goes to the colony and, in a rare move, touches the wall with his bare hand to talk to Gordon, pleading with him to come with him, appealing to their history. Gordon refuses, and Alexander interrupts their conversation. Bester then takes a few Psi Cops, determined to intercept Gordon. They arrive just as all the telepaths are ready to turn themselves in. Sheridan and Lochley try to contain the situation and confront Bester, but one of the telepaths open fire and a few people are killed before a volatile chemical spill forces a cease-fire. Gordon, now convinced there is too much bloodshed, takes a PPG and pleads with Alexander to walk away. He then shoots the spill and the explosion envelops them. Act V Sheridan confronts Bester after the dust settles, and Bester admits he does not understand, thinking they were on the same side. They only needed to have it explained who the real enemy was. Sheridan supposes that the enemy is them – the mundanes – but Bester ignores the comment, saying they were not supposed to fight each other. He leaves, stunned. Franklin is looking for Garibaldi, and explains to Sheridan about his question about neural blocks, but he is not to be found. They pass by the phrase "Remember Byron" on the wall. Bester, guarded, watches the remaining telepaths leave. Alexander arrives and promises each of them information from Gordon to leave safely. She touches each of their hands as they leave. Bester leaves, frustrated. Garibaldi enters his room and turns on the news, overhearing a news story about the bombing of Psi Corps Headquarters and the finding of the phrase "Remember Byron" at the scene. He pours himself a drink and ponders it. Memorable Quotes DVD Release This episode, along with the other 21 from Season 5 have been released on DVD with extensive Special Features. External Link * Category:Babylon 5 episodes Category:Babylon 5 Season 5 episodes